


Integration

by Valkyrie_Of_The_Night (ChuckStruck23)



Category: Divergent (Movies), Divergent - All Media Types, Divergent Series - Veronica Roth
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Dauntless Faction Initiation, F/M, Factionless (Divergent), Implied/Referenced Character Death, Rape/Non-con Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-03 10:55:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24469828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChuckStruck23/pseuds/Valkyrie_Of_The_Night
Summary: The population of Chicago is dangerously unbalanced, with the Factionless nearly outnumbering the Dauntless. Usually this would mean Dauntless would do a cull. The council comes to a decision on how to deal with it, a way to fix the issues without killing them all.Waking up in her shack in the Factionless Zone, a young mother of two has no idea about the changes that are soon to come.
Relationships: Eric (Divergent)/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 52





	1. Marching In

**Author's Note:**

> Right, this is a plot bunny. It won't leave me alone, so I need to get it out of my head and onto a page. Then maybe I can get back to writing Secrets and Saviours again.
> 
> Oh and the usual Disclaimer: I don't own Divergent. I'm just playing in Veronica Roth's sand pit :)

She awakens to the soft keening noise of her four-year-old son as he nuzzles against her chest, her 5-year-old daughter sprawled out on her other side, sleeping like the dead as usual. They both sleep nearly on top of her, seeking her warmth and the softness of her body. The ground is hard and the nip of autumn air creeps stealthily through the thin blankets, but they are dry and safe. They live for another day at least.

She looks young to be a mother of two, until the reality of her situation comes to light. The shabby shelter, mismatched clothing, and raggedy blankets prove her place as one of those with nothing.

Factionless.

How she hates it, but it was the best option she had at the time.

Her daughter begins to stir and her son whimpers as the sound of crunching footsteps outside disturbs their slumber. She was only 16 years old when she gave birth to her first child, and thanked whatever deities exist that her daughter showed next to no features of the Dauntless man that took his liberties with her. She had struggled and screamed, but his patrol mates had forced her into submission, holding her down while he had his fun with her.

She was left bruised and bleeding on the ground, too tired and weak to even lift her head, no more tears to create tracks in the dirt on her cheeks. She had cried so much harder when she realized what the true consequences of his actions were. She gave birth alone, too terrified to even seek out an older Factionless woman who may have had the experience. Not that anyone would have helped, anyway. Everyone had to look out for themselves in the slums.

She soothes her son as the crunching of gravel under boots gets louder. It sounds like a group of Dauntless. Sometimes they come to the Factionless zone for training. Their booted footsteps so much louder than the soft whispery steps of the Abnegation volunteers. Not that they are any less threatening. You can’t trust anyone. She still vividly remembers the face of the Abnegation man who found her when she sought help for her sickly infant daughter.

She got the medicine. She also got beaten badly and raped once again. At 17 years old, she gave birth once more. This experience even worse than before, her insides tearing and the pain unbearable. She passed out, wakened sometime later by the squalling infant in a bed of blood between her legs. She was barely strong enough to lift him to her breast. Her son had his father’s grey eyes. She hoped that was all he ever got from him.

The footsteps are too loud. This is not a training group. The rhythmic cadence of an army marching is nearly deafening in her ears. Her children, now wide awake, cling together as she positions herself between them and the door to their makeshift home.

She would die to protect them, no matter how she came to have them.

“Round them up. Leave none behind!” The command was shouted loud enough for her to hear just before the door to their little shack was ripped from its hinges.

She launched herself at the black clothed figure, tacking them to the ground. Around her screams sounded as the booted brutes stormed into shelters, what passed as homes for the occupants. The black figure beneath her threw her to the side, scrambling to their feet and barely getting their balance as she threw herself at them again, scratching, biting, kicking, anything to keep them away from the door.

Unfortunately, it is not enough, a punch lands, hitting her in the side of the head. She lands hard on the ground, her vision blurry and covered in stars. A big black boot rolls her onto her back plants firmly on her chest, a gun pointed in her face. His trigger finger twitches.

“Stand Down!” An angry female voice comes from behind them, somewhere near the door. She panics and thrashes once more. She can’t give up. Her kids need her. A smaller pair of boots approach her, her children’s tatty shoes following behind cautiously.

“It’s OK, stop struggling. This is not a cull. You and your kids will be safe if you come peacefully.” The voice tells her in a more calming tone than the angry one she used before to call off the brute. She looks up towards the voice. It belongs to a blonde girl, younger than her, that looks somewhat familiar. The girl’s face is kind and seems genuine. She stops struggling. The boot lifts off her chest, and her children scramble over to her as she lifts her beaten body off the ground. She winces as they cling to her, her head still spinning from the earlier blow.

“Leave us, I’ll take them to the drop point.” The girl orders the brute, flicking her ponytail behind her and showing what looks like birds tattooed on her skin. He glares at her but obeys all the same. It confuses her. She looks over the small girl again, noting the strength in her small body. She may be taller than the girl, but she knows she couldn’t take her.

She follows the girl in silence, her children close on her heels as she is lead to a group of Factionless surrounded by guards. They wait only a few minutes before prodding the group into action, herding them off down the streets towards where she knows Candor to be.


	2. Speak Your Truth

The Truth Serum burns as it flows through her veins. The panel before her stares at her like she is some kind of animal. They wait until her head is fully fuzzy before they begin talking.

“You are probably wondering why you have been brought here.” The one with Asian features begins. “The Council, in conjunction with the Faction Leaders has decided that the conditions in the Factionless Zone are no longer permissible – there are simply too many of you for us to be comfortable with. Instead of doing a cull, we have decided to integrate all eligible members of the Factionless community back into the Factions that they get as a result of the aptitude test.”

“You are here to be assessed.” A dark-skinned Dauntless man told her. “We will ask you some simple questions while you are under truth serum. If you have committed no crimes against the city, you will be integrated into whatever faction your aptitude test says you belong in.”

“My children?” She asks carefully.

“Will go to the faction you have aptitude for.” He replies straight faced.

“They stay with me?” she asks again.

“If you pass initiation.” He replies again, tone indifferent.

“If I don’t...?” She can barely imagine it, even as the words leave her mouth.

“They will still have a place in the factions, but you will not.” The dark-skinned lady from Amity tells her gently.

She lets out a sigh of relief.

“Okay.” She replied, looking at the panel. “What do you want to know?”

The questioning was over quickly. They must have been happy with her answers as they led her to a room down the corridor where a tattoo artist waited for her. Less than ten minutes later there was a bold black ‘ **F** ’ tattooed on the inside of her right wrist.

The mark of a Factionless.

They had explained that she, as an adult, would never be a full citizen. Her job selection would be limited to the lower ranks no matter where she ended up. Equality wasn’t in her future, but it was in her children’s. They would be considered full citizens immediately since they were under the age of 16. She could accept this if they were together. She could accept that even if she didn’t make it. Hopefully, they would have a better life than her.

After the tattoo, she was led back down the corridor past a room full of Factionless in handcuffs. Moving quickly, black clad men and women jabbed the struggling people in the neck with an injector. Seconds later, they fell to the ground, like puppets with their strings cut. She looks to her guard with fear on her face.

“They didn’t pass the interrogation stage.” Was all he offered in explanation as he nudged her down the hallway towards one of several doors. He waited outside as she entered.

A kind looking abnegation woman guided her to the reclined chair on one side of the room, explaining to her that she was to drink the liquid in a shot glass. The aptitude test was surreal, and she barely remembered anything when she came to afterwards, just something about a feral dog and a sharp knife.

“Your result is Dauntless.” The woman told her, placing a black band around her left wrist. “Good luck.” She whispered as she held open the door for her.

Her guard looked quickly at her band before leading her down another hallway. He didn’t say anything as he pushed open the door to a large seating area full of children in tatted clothes. Many were crying and clinging to one another, but she was pleased to note that her two had stayed strong. They quickly scurried over towards as soon as she got her thin frame through the door.

“That all of them?” Her guard asked gruffly.

“Yes” she replied.

He turned and lead them out of the door, barely pausing as she stopped to scoop her youngest into her arms. It had been a long day and she was completely sympathetic to how tired he must have been by that point in the afternoon. Her daughter held her spare hand tightly but couldn’t hold back a yawn as they left the Candor compound and were loaded into a troop transport vehicle. Half an hour later, when the transport was full, it began to move down the bumpy streets towards the Dauntless compound and their new home.


	3. To the Limit

They separate her from her children again as soon as they get to the compound. It breaks her heart as they are torn away from her again, leaving her unsure when she would be able to see them again. Her anguish is only slightly eased by the information that is given to her in the briefing the adults are given once the children are gone.

“Welcome to Dauntless. Here you will be pushed to the limits physically, mentally, and emotionally to see if you are worthy of joining our ranks.” The young man speaking can’t be too far from her own age but has so many tattoos and piecing’s that she is instantly wary of him. The sneer on his face certainly doesn’t help matters. His next words chill her to her bones.

“If you are not found worthy, then the city has no further use for you.” He looks around and she tries to remove the fear from her face. “Your lives are in your own hands. Push hard, and you might make it. Slack off and you definitely won’t. Dauntless takes only the best, and we don’t have room for all of you.” His steely blue gaze catches her green one, and she finds herself paralysed, unable to look away.

Movement to her right startles her as she realises there is another person in the room. It’s the girl from that morning. The one who called off the brute.

“You will be ranked based on your performance over three stages of testing. These stages are designed to show us who you really are and what you are capable of under pressure.” The girl speaks quietly but firmly, none dare to even whisper. “Under no circumstances are you to try and harm any of your fellow contenders outside of training. If we even hear a whisper of such conduct, the offenders will be executed immediately.”

“You will have six trainers working with you.” A dark-skinned boy speaks up. “My name is Uriah, your other trainers will be Four, Tris, Lauren, Eric, and Christina. Our job is to give you the tools to be the best. How well you use them is up to you. The first stage is physical, and it begins now.”

Begin then it did, with a run through the Dauntless compound. The many tunnels twisted and turned like a rabbit warren, but she made sure to memorize them quickly, along with the many locations they were shown. They ended up at the training rooms, of which there were three. She was quickly assigned to room two, and her trainers were to be Tris – the blonde girl from that morning, and Eric – the intimidating guy who started the briefing.

They were quickly thrown into practicing stances and sparring against a punching bag, and later that day they went straight into fighting each other. He opponent was a scrawny man who didn’t appear to have much fighting experience, and she manages to knock him out without too much trouble. By the time she made it to the cafeteria for dinner, she could barely summon the strength to chew her food. By some miracle, she made it back to the dormitories in one piece, before collapsing onto a bed near the door and surrendering to sleep immediately.

The days of stage one keep coming and eventually blur together. On the second day she works up the courage to approach Tris and ask about her children. To her relief, she finds out that she is allowed to eat two meals spend an hour each day with them. They tell her about how they are going to school now, deeming her son intelligent enough to be put in the same class as her daughter. Since they are so close in age. She is glad that they are together, at least they have each other.

Their instructors seemed to keep them on hand to hand for as long as possible before trusting them enough to let them use knives, and eventually guns. She fights hard to stay with her children and is quickly noted to be a vicious fighter despite her size. She doesn’t win all her fights, especially those that are against bigger and more muscled men with experience brawling in the factionless zone, but she slowly gains the respect of her peers. Many of them see her dining with her children and know that is why she doesn’t hold back. It isn’t until she knocks out someone twice her size after a half hour long fight that she draws the attention of Eric.

She does not want Eric’s attention. She does not trust him and knows she must be wary of insulting him as he could have her executed at the drop of a hat. It is hard to ignore him though, especially when He tries to earn her trust by getting her an extra hour with her kids every day. He steadily becomes more and more attentive to her but is subtle about it – a slightly gentler tone of voice when correcting her stance here, a lingering touch there.

It’s not until her daughter gets into trouble at school for being too advanced at reading and he shields her from punishment that she truly realizes he is not going to stop. The council had decided that any flaws or misbehaviour from the offspring of the Ferals (that’s what they, the factionless, were called now in Dauntless) was punishable for the parents of said offspring. Children are innocent in their eyes; their bad habits are their parent’s fault.

Her daughter had gotten bored at school because the teacher was making her learn her letters - letters that she already knew. One of their few possessions in the little shack had been a book, and she had made sure to teach her daughter the basics of reading. Her daughter told her of how the teacher had attacked her for talking back when she tried to explain that she could already read. How her teacher had promised her mother would be punished for failing to teach her daughter manners.

She had been horrified that a teacher would disparage her daughter for being ahead on classwork. It isn’t until her daughter tells her that she had talked to her instructor about not punishing her that she realizes Eric has contact with her kids. The thought of them near him unnerves her but when her daughter reports that Eric had gone to her class the next day and talked sense into her teacher, she is grateful. Glad that they would have someone watching out for them when she could not.

As she was parted from them on the final night of stage one, she barely held back tears at the thought that they may never see her again. That this time tomorrow, she could be dead.

At least they would have a chance though, she consoled herself as she slipped into a fitful sleep.


	4. Making the Grade

She gets through stage one ranking in the middle of the pack. Twenty-one others are not so fortunate. The day the rankings are announced she does not celebrate. So many people just died, and even if she didn’t know them, she still feels for them. The day is made worse when she runs into the father of her daughter shortly after the executions take place.

“Watch where you are going, stupid feral.” He snarls at her, before moving on down the corridor with his mates.

As she suspected, he doesn’t even recognize her. She was nothing to him and still is. It makes her both angry and relieved. He won’t connect the dots and take her daughter from her.

She nurses bruised ribs and an injured knee from her stage one fights against bigger and stronger men. Several times during stage one she had to fight off males, fellow ferals, who try to rape or hurt her. Nobody caught them in the act so they were never officially punished. She survived all that stage one could throw at her but stage two is a different ball game.

Emotions run high and several of her fellow candidates are not pleased when her ranking goes up. It doesn’t surprise her that she is less affected than some of the more sheltered factionless, the ones who had grouped together for protection. Her fears are relatively simple, after all, she has lived most of them. Being unloved, rape, starvation, having to sell herself to men for food, losing her kids. The last one hurts the most, because reality is not too far from the truth.

There is an attempt on her life in the first few days of stage two, by two female ferals. One distracts her while another tries to bash her over the head with a rock, before dragging her towards the chasm. Unfortunately for them, they must have been in view of one of the cameras. Eric has the main assailant killed when he finds out, and her accomplice’s rank is docked so severely that it is likely that she will never make the final cut. She is not sure whether she appreciates his actions or not as it reminds her of just how dangerous the man that is getting so close to her and her kids is.

When she finds out the Eric oversees the executions of the failed ferals, she isn’t just worried, but angry as well. Next time they talk away from the children she points out that most of the women don’t stand a chance against factionless men that are practiced fighters. That the intake will be heavily unbalanced when it comes to sexes and that will cause population to destabilize over time. That the whole point on integration was to stabilize the population.

Next thing she knows, the women and men are being ranked separately so that an equal proportion will make it in. Eric is clearly telling her now that he wants her, in quiet moments stolen during the breaks of training. He spars with her in the early mornings, impressed by her dedication to making it. To staying alive. To being there for her children.

Again, and again he tries to soften her heart to him. She reminds him of the truth - that she can’t be with him. She is feral, he is not. If he were with her then he couldn’t be a leader anymore, he would be shunned by the faction. That if that happens, he won’t be able to protect her or her children. She has accepted her lot in life, knowing that she will never be more than a fence guard, or a compound guard at the absolute best. He refused to lose hope and keeps pursuing her.


	5. Simulation Struggles

As she battles in the sims, she and her kids find themselves spending more time with Eric. He often joins them at their table for meals, listening to their stories from school and the retelling of his scolding her daughter’s teacher in particular. It seems to get more and more embellished every time her daughter tells it. Tris often joins them too, or at least stops for a chat with the kids on the way to her own group of friends. 

One particular day she faces a sim where she is forced to watch her children drown in a big glass tank, the old leader of Erudite watching on and taunting her. When she comes to, Tris is looking at her with such pity that she breaks down into sobs. It’s the first time she has truly cried since her sons’ birth.

Tris gently explains that she has a similar fear, while also informing her that Jeanine Mathews is dead. Apparently, she had been caught plotting to take over the entire city using a mind control serum. The first stage of her plan had been to wipe out the abnegation, but Eric and Max, the head leader of dauntless, had infiltrated her group and gathered enough evidence to execute her immediately. Among her plans had been the data on the true number of factionless in the city.

It was then that the council had decided something had to be done. Culling wasn’t seen as an ideal solution but was what they were planning to do until Tris had put forward a plan to reintegrate the factionless. Eric had backed her, persuading Max, calling the council to a vote, and from there it was history. It was odd for her to think about how much she owed Eric her life.

When it becomes apparent that her son is struggling in the system, being picked on by his peers and his minders didn’t really do anything about it, Eric approaches her and decides to pull her kids from the system , fostering them himself. She is outright opposed to this plan until he mentions that her son has not been telling her how bad it really is because he doesn’t want to worry her.

After a hard conversation with her son, she yields. She is unsure what to think of this plan, worried about what the price will be for Eric’s kindness, but realistically is unable to fight his actions as she is a feral. She has no rights to her children and plays along to retain her extended time with them. At least with Eric in charge of them, he increases their visits to three hours. She treasures every minute.

She does notice an immediate improvement in the happiness of her children though. They grow to be quite trusting of him over a very short period of time, which worries her. They do not know some of the things he does as part of his job. They don’t yet understand that he is sentencing other ferals to death. When her son accidentally calls him ‘dad’ she worries that he will reject his tentative bond with her quieter child. When he doesn’t, she starts to trust him.

She eventually finds herself struggling to keep him at arm’s length even though she knows they can’t be together. One night after they managed to sneak some time alone, their conversation turns heated as Eric makes another move.

“Eric, I’m a feral. You are a leader. We can’t.” She tells him sadly, moving to slip out of his arms but he pulls her back.

“I don’t care. I love you.” He tells her ardently, both of them momentarily stunned by his words. Although he had alluded to such feelings, he has never expressed them so candidly before. They stare at each other for a long moment before she pulls away once more. A tear trickles down her face.

“If you lose your status, the kids will be at risk. I can’t put them at risk Eric. I am a mother. My kids come before my own happiness.” She whispers sadly, before turning her back and walking away so he can’t see more tears escape her eyes.

Eric doesn’t come after her. He doesn’t turn up to any of the training, even at the end of stage two he is not present, seemingly avoiding her. She worries for her kids when they tell her that he is rarely home, and that Tris has been babysitting them almost every night. Stage three comes around and she sees him in the leadership panel judging the sims. She is the last to be put through, her time is decent, and she hurries out the door hoping to catch him. What she would say she doesn’t know, but it turns out that it doesn’t matter anyway – he is already gone.


	6. Finality and Freedom

The ranks are announced that evening, but she cannot bring herself to celebrate like the others who have made it. She ranks 4th, which is very respectable given that she was up against twenty-six other female contenders. They are told they will be assigned jobs the next day as the six female and twenty-three male ferals who didn’t make it are quickly taken from the room to be put out of their misery.

To her there is no reason for celebration as another round of ferals is executed. She is just relieved it wasn’t her. She has other worries though. With Eric’s strange absence she is unsure if Dauntless will let her have her kids back, especially since Eric took them out of the system. She sits in the cafeteria until most of the late-night partiers have hit the hay, hoping he will show up with her kids and tell her why he has been gone. It is in vain; he doesn’t come find her and she spends the night in the dorms again.

The next day she is a wreck but manages to get up and into the cafeteria in time for breakfast. This is a good thing, as a new announcement is made. She listens with rapt attention and finds out that last night Dauntless Leadership called for a council meeting. They made a motion to change the status of the successful ferals into full members. Max proudly announces that it was all Eric’s idea.

Eric was partially successful, in that council agreed the top 5 of each sex could become full members immediately upon graduation from initation. They also agreed that the lower ranking ones could earn the benefits of becoming members after 5 years of service on the fence. It takes her a while to remember she ranked fourth, and realise she is now a Dauntless member in full. When it hits her that he did this for her, hope soars in her heart. Maybe this was why he has been so busy. Maybe things will be ok.

Eric brings her kids to her just before dinner. She had spent the day choosing a job and getting that horrid F tattoo covered up. She wanted to set up an apartment too, but none are available yet – housing will be decided the next day for all those who passed initiation.

Since she ranked so high, she was offered a selection of positions within the compound, including a chance to train as a doctor while working as a nurse. She decides that this is the best option for her, as if there was a situation where the city came under attack she would be in a relatively safe position and more likely to survive for her kids. She’s been fighting since she became factionless. A little peace is hard won but well deserved.

The cover up tattoo is a beautiful cuff/bracelet design with realistic black and white flowers edged in shades of blue flames. Eric, upon noticing the bandage around her wrist, immediately unwraps it to admire it. When he inevitably asks her about the flames being blue, she tells him one of her few remaining secrets - that she was born in Erudite but ran away from an abusive home life at 13.

She had been surprised to get Dauntless as her test result, thinking that she might get sent back to Erudite and subjected to the torture of seeing her mother again. To get a Dauntless result was a relief. Eric is saddened but not surprised, he told her that he figured she had to know how to read and write from somewhere, and knew that factionless children were never taught.

They eat dinner together and she can’t help but notice it feels like he is family. He is just so patient with her kids, interacting and listening to their rambling stories. She is still unsure where she belongs when it comes to Eric. Despite his declaration of love, she pushed him away. She knows he has an ego and wonders if he will risk damaging it further by asking her to his again.

After dinner he sits with her beside a fire in the pit as the children play and mess around. He talks her through the changes in her status, tells her why he pushed for them. Then it happens.

He asks her again to be his.

Seeing all he has done for her, her kids happy and healthy, and her own future secured, she says yes. She holds his hand as her kids excitedly lead the way to their apartment.


	7. Epilogue

Eric doesn’t wait around. He marries her after a few short months of dating/living together and formally adopts her kids too, giving them his last name. She doesn’t give him any more children – she can’t after the damage caused by her son’s harsh birth and the lack of medical intervention at the time leaves her unable. Thankfully, Eric doesn’t mind, he cherishes the two they have.

Time has progressed and eventually Four was brave enough to testify against his father. She nearly goes into shock when she realises the head of Abnegation was the one who raped her and fathered her son. She testifies under truth serum to this, backing up Four on giving evidence to his abusive nature. Four struggles but does come to terms with what his father did to her. He takes on a position of uncle to her two kids, finding it much preferable to being their big brother when he is as old as their mother.

The Faction heads vote unanimously, and Marcus is executed by Eric. Andrew Prior now leads the council and Chicago is all the better for it.

There are no factionless anymore. Anyone who fails initiation is sent to the Amity fields to work – something that she suggested to Eric and he offered it to the council. The few who fail out and prove too violent in nature are memory wiped and sent to work with Abnegation, who are now in charge of caring for the city’s elderly instead of helping the factionless. Max had suggested this one, in conjunction with Tris who presented it. Dauntless members now have somewhere to go when they grow old and can no longer fight.

She works hard and quickly becomes the head of the infirmary at Dauntless, earning a spot in the leadership ranks along side her now husband. Eric has mellowed with her and the kids’ presence and has worked his way up leadership to the point where he will be Max’s successor as head leader. He is better liked ad less cruel than before, but nobody dares cross him or his family still. 

She can still trace the bold letter ‘ **F** ’, remembering clear as day where it was on her wrist, but it doesn’t bother her like it did once. She is now content in the happiness of her family.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos if you care. Let me know what you think in the comments below!


End file.
